A BEM formulation for linear bending analysis of plates reinforced by beams considering different materials

In this work, a boundary element method (BEM) formulation to perform linear bending analysis of building floor structures where slabs and beams can be defined with different materials is presented. The proposed formulation is based on Kirchhoffʹs hypothesis, the building floor being modelled by a zoned plate, where the beams are treated as thin sub-regions with larger rigidities. This composed structure is treated as a single body, the equilibrium and compatibility conditions being automatically taken into account. In the final integral equation, the tractions are eliminated along the interfaces, therefore reducing the number of degrees of freedom. The displacements are approximated along the beam cross-section, leading to a model where the values remain defined on the beam skeleton line instead of their boundaries. The accuracy of the proposed model is shown by comparing the numerical results with a well-known finite element code.